Ghosts
by autumnassassin
Summary: Sirius has just passed through the veil and Harry is heartbroken. He sits in front of the veil, waiting for the impossible. However, he and others are in for the shock of their lives as their loved ones start appearing from the veil, led by a girl no one recognizes. Said girl now brings in new knowledge for Harry and company, how will she change the fates of the wizarding world?
1. Chapter 1

_IMPORTANT: I have re-uploaded chapters because frankly, my first couple chapters were pathetic in length. Less than 500 words? Gross. Awful. Therefore, i have done some finagling and fixed it... hopefully. Please enjoy the better versions! I hope their better versions at least. Also, Happy Christmas everyone!_

Harry sat down in front of the veil and refused to move. He wrapped his arms around his knees and rocked gently back and forth. They all took turns, but Harry refused to move.

"Harry, Harry come on. Sirius isn't coming back." Hermione said, her voice thick with tears. She reached down and touched his shoulder. Harry threw off her hand and continued sitting there. Waiting for what he knew was never going to happen.

"Leave the boy be. He needs to figure this out on his own." Moody's voice made it through to Harry's grief filled mind. Distantly, Harry thanked him, but continued sitting there.

Suddenly, he stopped rocking. Faintly, he could see a figure in the veil. He didn't say a word though as the figure became clearer. He was desperately hoping it was Sirius.

It wasn't Sirius. Harry felt his hopes crash to the ground.

Instead of Sirius, it was a girl, about his own age. She looked at Harry curiously. Harry narrowed his eyes and darted around to the other side of the arch to see if someone was standing there. No one was. He darted back to the front. The girl was still there, still looking.

"Moody, Moody come here." Harry said hoarsely as he stared at the girl, rubbing his eyes to see if it was just his imagination.

Moody clomped his way over, "What is it?"

"Do you see her?"

"See who?"

Harry pointed at the veil, "That girl."

Moody's normal eye widened while his magical one whizzed around, "Indeed I do. Strange, this has never happened before."

The girl eyed Moody with a bit of wariness in her eyes, but Moody got that look from everyone. Suddenly, she walked off, disappearing of to the side of the veil.

"What was that?" Harry asked, turning to look at Moody.

"No idea, best to move away though. No one's sure how this thing works." Moody started to follow his own advice when he suddenly stopped. Harry had turned around to walk away, so he got the slightly comical opportunity to see Moody's face. His mouth had gone slack in surprise and Harry could read the open shock on his face.

Harry assumed it came from the veil and looked back. What was surprising was that the girl was back, but this time with two other women. One was an older lady, and the other was clearly her daughter.

"Moody?" Harry asked. Moody didn't answer, but continued staring at the veil in shock.

"Caitlyn? Lauren?" he asked softly, his surprise evident in his tone.

The first girl looked at the two women next to her, then at Moody, who was still moving his mouth up and down resembling a fish as he tried to think of more to say, to ask.

Then the girl bit her lip and shoved the other two women. Both Harry and Moody scrambled backwards in surprise and worry. What if these figures meant to harm them?

What was even more surprising was that the two passed through to their side. Harry couldn't help but stare at the two translucent women in front of him.

Moody seemed to have been shocked into silence at that.

"Alastor." The older one spoke tenderly.

"Impossible. You died, this is some Dark magic!" he denied, shaking his head at the sight of what seemed to be his wife and child, both long since dead.

"Dad?" the younger asked, confused, "You're old."

Moody continued to deny the existence of the two in front of him, muttering under his breath.

By now, others were wandering over in curiosity, but when they saw the two spirits, they stopped as well.

"What's going on here?" that was Dumbledore who had finally decided to join them, "Alastor, what's going on?" he pushed his way to the front of the small crowd.

"Impossible." Dumbledore breathed out as he stared at the two women before him, the two women who he knew were dead.

"Dad, why are you old? Why am I old? I'm supposed to turn 11 next month and go to Hogwarts. Instead I look like mum and you." the girl asked confused.

"Caitlyn." Moody choked out. A single tear slipping down his face.

"Yes dad?" she asked innocently, but looking at him with confusion and worry.

The older one laid her hand on Caitlyn's shoulder, "Go join the others. Go back and rest."

"Yes mum. Bye dad." She waved and then walked back through the veil, looking back one more time

Harry looked behind the women to see the girl looking hopefully out. She welcomed Caitlyn back in and then gently pushed her to the side. Then she continued to watch hopefully. When she saw Harry staring at her, she gave a small wave.

Harry hesitantly waved back.

"Oh Alastor. We missed out on so much."

Harry turned his attention back to Moody and what was apparently his wife as she spoke. She was looking at him in a loving way, but Harry could see the bit of pain in her eyes as she looked around.

"Lauren, you…you died. I couldn't save you. Either of you."

Lauren nodded sadly, "I know. If it helps, Caitlyn passed quickly."

Dumbledore stepped forward, putting a hand on Moody's shoulder, "Who are you and what is your purpose?" he asked in a powerful voice.

"Dumbledore. I had hoped you were done meddling." Lauren said disdainfully.

"Explain yourself."

"Simple. There was a great pull. We followed our guide who provided us with one last opportunity to see our loved ones before we pass. Joelle just was a little eager for us to meet him once more." She explained. Then she turned to Moody. She stepped forward, regardless of the raised wands and cupped his cheek.

"It isn't your time yet. You have a journey ahead of you. I love you, and Caitlyn and I are waiting for you once it is your time. Caitlyn can't wait to go on another adventure." She smiled sadly and kissed Moody's forehead. Someone shot a stunner spell at her, but it simply passed through her body, hitting some loose rocks.

She ignored it and the reaction, "See you later Alastor." She smiled once more and stepped back into the veil, going out of sight.

Moody just stared after her.

Dumbledore also seemed at a loss, so Tonks stepped up, gestured for Kingsley to join her, and between the two of them, managed to get Moody out.

Harry looked back at the girl, Joelle, she had a thoughtful look on her face, looking at someone, although Harry couldn't tell who.

She hurried off to the side, and some people used the opportunity to either escape out another door or come closer.

When she came back, again with two figures, Molly Weasley let out a strangled cry.

Harry hadn't even noticed that the Weasley matriarch had shown up.

The two stepped forward through the veil, and it became clearer who they were. They looked like older versions of the Fred and George. Harry had a sudden wild thought that Fred and George had died and looked around frantically to locate the twins. They were watching the proceedings with interest, a safe distance away. They were alive.

"Hello Molly." The one on the right said.


	2. Chapter 2

"Fabian, Gideon, how…?" Mrs. Weasley asked in a voice full of tears.

"Like Lauren explained, Joelle got us." The one on the left said.

"Molly, you need to stop." The one on the right said.

"If Harry and Ginny are meant for each other, then they will get together. Trying to force it will not work." The left said.

Molly's face drained of colour, even as Harry and Ginny looked at each other confused, "How do you know about that?"

"We're dead Molly, we can go pretty much wherever we want. Even if you can't see us." The right said.

"But, Fabian…"

"No Molly." The left said, so that one was Gideon, "There is no excuse for it. If you stop now, the two will forgive you. Rip up the contract. Besides, it wouldn't even be binding. It needs a Potter's signature on it."

The two turned their backs on Molly and looked at the other Weasleys' in the room, "So this must be one of our nephews. Ron I think. I don't think we ever met you." Fabian said.

Ron nodded to confirm their question, then, looking pale, asked, "How, how are you two here?"

"Someone had a strong will, and Joelle is stubborn." Gideon answered.

"George, Fred." Fabian asked for, the twins looked up in slight awe, after all, the twins in front of them could be a much older version of themselves, "Follow your dreams."

Fred and George looked very pleased with themselves and Harry saw them give each other subtle high-fives.

"Farewell. We love you guys. Dumbledore, stay out of business that you have no business in." the two advised before re-entering the veil.

"Okay, enough, everyone out." Dumbledore tried to command.

Harry meanwhile, was still looking at Joelle, and as Dumbledore said this, her expression turned panicky, and she rushed out one side. Harry tried to go slowly, trying to stall for Joelle, even as Dumbledore took ahold of his arm and tried to pull him along.

"Stop Albus." A girl's voice said. Dumbledore instantly froze, "Miss me big brother? Because I don't. I'm sad I died, but glad I'm out of your influence. Although I feel as though if I had stayed you would have turned out better."

Harry jerked out of Dumbledore's grip, which wasn't that hard considering it had gone slack, and turned around to face a young girl, she looked tired and a little angry.

"Ariana." Dumbledore whispered.

"Albus." She said in a sort of greeting although everyone could hear the slight mocking in her tone, "I understand you are upset about my death and all, but manipulating a young boy, especially for some idiotic prophecy, is not the way to recover. If you really wanted to stop Tom, you should have done so while the boy was in school. You had all the signs, Horace even came and told you about Tom asking about the horcruxes. Albus, we love you, but your schemes have gone far enough. Let the boy have a life." she looked so sad, so disappointed, that Dumbledore could do nothing more than nod faintly.

Inwardly, he was fuming, the boy had a future! One he could not forsake! Yet, his baby sister was asking him to stop, perhaps he should…? But, no, he couldn't He straightened up, he had no time for dead sisters, real or not. He had a plan, one that would solve everyone's problems. Harry just had to be sacrificed.

Ariana stared at him for a long time, and Dumbledore started to feel uneasy. Perhaps she could read his thoughts? No, no, she wasn't real. With that thought, he resolved to not listen to anything that came out of that veil. No matter what they said or who they were.

"Goodbye everyone." She whispered in the same sad tone she had used since she had arrived.

When she went through, Joelle ushered her off to the side and stared out again. Apparently, whatever she saw did not please her, because she made a face and then disappeared once more out the side.

This time however, she didn't seem to come back because ten minutes passed with no sign of her or any other spirits.

Everybody else started drifting away, talking among themselves and giving the veil strange looks.

"Come along Harry, best we get away." Molly Weasley came over and tried to pull Harry along.

He pulled his arm out of her grip, whatever her brothers had said had obviously meant something between him and Ginny, and he really didn't want to be around her right now.

"I'm not going anywhere. She's going to come back."

"Frankly, it'd be better if she didn't. This is strange stuff; we shouldn't be messing with it." She said nervously, giving the veil second looks as she tried to pull Harry along.

"I'm not going anywhere with you." he finally snapped, "After what your brothers said, I'm not going anywhere with you alone ever again. Let go of me!" Shocked, she dropped his arm and took a couple steps back.

He supposed she was just about to berate him, but Remus came up and laid a hand on her shoulder.

"Leave Harry alone Molly. Now is not the time." He said firmly.

Molly and Remus started to argue, so Harry used it to his advantage to slip from their sights and step in front of the veil again.

Almost desperately, he waited, hoping she could bring Sirius back next.

Suddenly, she was back, literally dragging two figures. Harry felt his heart jump into his throat. There was something about these people, something familiar.

"Harry, get away from there." Dumbledore reappeared suddenly and grasped his upper arm firmly and started to drag him away.

"No! No! I want to talk to them!" he struggled against Dumbledore's grasp, looking desperately at the two figures, hoping they would come out. He knew those figures, he just knew it.

Harry was so set on looking at the two figures as they were pushed through that he failed to notice that Joelle's hands passed through the veil, having a semi-solid look about them. She snatched them back and nervously examined them, then the people around her.

But no one was paying any attention to her. Because the two she had pushed out were Lily and James Potter.


	3. Chapter 3

Everything literally stopped. No one moved, no one even dared to breathe.

Lily and James looked annoyed.

"We shouldn't be here." James said, Lily nodding in agreement.

"Mum, dad…" Harry was shocked. His parents were standing in front of him, this was his deepest desire, but they didn't want to be here? He started tearing up but tried to hold the tears back.

"Oh Harry, we didn't mean we don't want to be here, it's just that we have Passed." Lily rushed to console him, looking like she was about to step forward and then thinking better of it.

"Passed?" Harry looked at the two in confusion, "What do you mean Passed? You were murdered!"

They nodded sadly, and James spoke, "Yes, but it was our time. We have been watching over you though. But, we can't come back. We can't stay for very long as it is."

"But mum, dad!" Harry cried, reaching out for them.

"Harry, we can't come back. It is impossible. Same with Sirius. It was his time." Lily said, crying as she said it, "Everyone has their time and that night was ours."

"What we can do is send someone else to assist you though. But that is all we can do, we are pushing it even with this." James said, wrapping an arm around Lily's shoulders.

"Who?" Harry asked cautiously.

They gave small smiles, "You haven't met her, not exactly." Lily began.

"It's Joelle. She is a little strange, for a ghost. While most ghosts are either here or there, she is truly stuck in between the living and the afterlife. She can be of service to you." James said, a faint smile on his face as he spoke of the strange ghost that they had seen the most of.

Harry looked past his parents to see Joelle looking at them with an 'are-you-serious?' look. It was quite funny and Harry couldn't contain the snigger that came out.

"She is trustworthy. Even if she can come across as a bit, well, rude. She's just extremely blunt." Lily said, glancing back at Joelle.

"No." it was the first anyone had spoken besides Harry since Lily and James came out, and no surprise it was Dumbledore who spoke out, "We don't know if you are even real. You are probably a result of dark magic."

Lily rolled her eyes, "There is no such thing as 'dark' magic. It's just magic. It all depends on how you use it."

Everyone looked at her with disbelief and she rolled her eyes again, "Pure-bloods." She whispered in a conspiratory tone to Harry.

Harry couldn't help but smile and agree. The purebloods were a little close-minded.

"Now Harry, know that we love you. We always have, always will. Re-evaluate your friends. And for goodness sakes, think for yourself!" Lily said, "Half the time with watching you, I'm agonizing over your choices! Some adults are trustworthy you know, especially Amelia Bones."

James interrupted, "No, Amelia hangs out with Joelle now. Remember? She's been with us since around Christmas. It wasn't her time but she's stuck now."

"Oh, right, forgot about that. Unfortunately, we can't bring her back, the government would be in too much of a riot, if that happened." Lily mused, tapping her chin with one finger, "Although, they already are a bunch of idiots maybe what they need is for some people to come back."

Several people in the room let out quiet laughs while the ministry officials present glared around them.

"I suppose that only leaves us with sending Joelle out. She may not be very happy, but she should understand." James said, looking back at Joelle. She stuck her tongue out at him as though she could tell she was the object of discussion.

James responded in kind before turning back, "This is it son. We love you and are very proud that you have turned out to be the amazing young man you are, now you just need to fix your mistakes."

Harry had tears in his eyes now, but he nodded, not trusting his voice.

His parents smiled sadly at him and came forward and wrapped him in a hug. It felt like a blast of freezing air, and when they let go, Harry's teeth were chattering and he was shivering, but he had a huge smile on his face. He had just gotten a hug from his parents. That was the best thing in the world to him.

They smiled sadly before reentering the veil.

Everyone watched with baited breath as the three figures clearly started to argue, although it looked more like Joelle was complaining.

Then Lily and James shoved her out.

She stumbled out and turned to stick her tongue out at the two, but they just waved merrily at her. Then they looked around at the people still in the room and gave them one final parting sad smile, accompanied by a wave. Then they faded into nothing.

Joelle turned around to face the room, and simply said, "Hi."

She looked alive. She was more transparent than solid for one, and two, Harry didn't feel the same freezing cold as when his parents had hugged him, then again, she wasn't trying to touch him. She was standing a couple feet away.

"How come you look, well, alive?" Harry asked hesitantly. He didn't want to offend her.

She glanced down at herself with some surprise and then shrugged, "Dunno. Probably something to do with magic." Then she looked around the room, "Okay, show's over. Let's go, let's move." She said, effectively startling everyone.

For a moment, no one moved though, and Harry could see Joelle face reveal her frustration. She raised her hands in a threatening manner, and all the ministry officials fled quickly.

All that was left was the Order. However they all seemed to be in shock, so no one tried to stop Joelle as she floated/drifted/walked, Harry was unsure of how to describe it. She was moving her legs as though she was walking, but her feet didn't quite touch the ground.

She looked back at Harry, her brown hair falling in her face, "Well? You coming?"

That shocked Harry enough to simply follow her out.

None of the order members followed them, they all stared after them in shock. As the door closed behind them, they could hear arguing break out though.

They passed through the Department of Mysteries rather quickly, something which had Harry surprised. He would have expected the place to be teeming with aurors, but no one was around.

Harry couldn't stand the silence, but at the same time, he didn't know what to say to Joelle, "So, ah, do you know where everybody is?"

Her answer surprised him, "Of course, they're all hiding. The news of what happened at the arch spread and they've got their fancy-schmancy spells and all it tells them that there are one and a half people heading their way." She shrugged, "They assume you're Dumbledore who has somehow found some great amazing wizard who can get rid of Tom."

"And, where are we going?" Harry asked a little warily.

"Back to your aunt's house. We, well you really, need only be there for around a month. We might be able to scrape it down to only three weeks. Don't worry, it won't be spent sitting in your room doing nothing. I hate wasting time."

"Do I have to go back there?" Harry asked, hearing the disappointment creep into his voice.

"Contrary to what you think, there is some necessity to going there. I have to speak with your aunt about something, and the wards really are helpful, at least for now." Joelle replied, leading him through. Harry could see the elevator ahead of them and was internally surprised at how quickly they got of the Department of Mysteries.

"Wards?" Harry asked confused as he remembered something from her answer.

"Why do you think no one has been able to find you? As much as Dumbledore wants Voldemort dead, and willing to use pretty much anyone to achieve that, he does care about you."

"What do you mean? He's no help." Harry muttered darkly.

"Think about it this way. If he really wanted to only use you, he could have kept you himself and made you spend your entire life training. You would really be his puppet then. What he was trying to do was give you a childhood. He failed, yes, but he tried." Joelle explained, ushering him into the elevator.

"So you're saying I should just forgive him?" Harry exploded, his magic making the elevator tremble and the lights flicker.

Joelle eyed him, "I must point out that if your magic makes this elevator plummet down, you will die and I will have come out for nothing. And it wouldn't even hurt me."

Harry glared at her, but did take some deep breaths in an attempt to calm his magic down.

"Much better. Frankly, I don't care if you forgive him or not. That's your decision. What you should do is at least be able to work with him. Albus Dumbledore is human so of course he makes mistakes, just like the rest of you humans, but he is also very powerful. He's a useful ally." The elevator dinged and opened its door as she finished.

Harry grumbled under his breath and glared at her.

Joelle ignored the glare and gracefully walked/floated out. Harry stood for a moment, glaring through her transparent back before stalking after her.

"And how will you explain yourself to the people who see you? Better yet, how are we going to get back to my aunt's?" Harry asked after a minute of walking in silence.

Joelle grinned, "Oh this is going to be fun." Then she did her little float/walk thing over to him and sort of grabbed his arm.

"What are you doing…?" then Harry was screaming as they shot off.


	4. Chapter 4

It seemed to last a lifetime for Harry, even though he knew that realistically, it only took a few seconds before his world finally calmed down. Harry staggered away from Joelle and lost the contents of his stomach. He even stood there for a little bit just dry heaving.

When he finally got ahold of himself, he straightened and glared at Joelle who still had that maddening grin on her face, "What was that?" he demanded, "That was worse than a portkey!"

Joelle laughed, "Oh, that was exhilarating! I couldn't wait to do that! I could barely wait until you had asked how we were getting back to your aunts!"

"What was that?" Harry demanded again once she had finished speaking.

"Oh, right, that was a ghost's form of travel. A bit dangerous for me to take a live person with me, but I figured it would be better than wasting money." She explained, ignoring Harry's look of disbelief, "Let's go talk to your aunt!"

"A bit dangerous? Only a bit! She's mad!" Harry mumbled to himself as he followed Joelle.

Joelle almost had a bounce in her step as she walked up the driveway. Harry hadn't even noticed where they had landed, and he grudgingly allowed himself to feel a little impressed. They were just in front of his aunt's house. He glanced at the spot where he had been sick, inwardly debating because he knew if his aunt or uncle found out it was him, he's have to clean it up, and then decided he could do with a little entertainment. No doubt Joelle, a semi-ghost, and his aunt, the most muggle muggle he knew, would get along fabulously.

Yeah right.

Joelle was waiting for him at the front door, gesturing for him to hurry up.

Harry rolled his eyes at her, "What's the rush? It's not like they are going anywhere."

She rolled her eyes back at him, "I know, but I got some really good advice on how to handle her, and I've been following her around all year, I know how she works." Joelle replied.

"Then why don't you waltz in?" Harry asked, exasperated by her attitude.

"I don't know how to waltz. And I thought it would be better if you went first, try to calm them down before I arrive. I expect lots of screaming." Joelle said reflectively.

Harry rolled his eyes again at her antics before opening the front door, "Aunt Petunia? Uncle Vernon? Anyone home?"

"What do you want boy?" his aunt's sharp voice replied, "You aren't supposed to be back from that freaky school yet! I hope you haven't caused trouble!"

Harry mentally rolled his eyes, he needed to stop doing that, it would be bad if his aunt caught sight of him rolling his eyes. It must be Joelle's influence, Harry decided.

"Of course not Aunt." He lied, "But you may want to come see this."

There was a pause, then he heard grumbles and then finally the shifting noises of her getting up. She stalked out into the hallway.

"What is it?" she asked sharply, "I was reading."

He ignored the lie and said, "I want you to at least contain your screaming, which may be hard for you, but do try."

She shot him a scathing look, "What is it?"

He opened the front door with a flourish, "This is Joelle, she's a ghost."

Petunia did scream at the sight, and Joelle had been right when she had said that his aunt's screaming was awful.

"Ah jeez Aunt Petunia! Don't let the neighbor's hear!" Harry said, covering his ears. He glanced at Joelle and was confused to see her grinning.

"Oh Petunia. Petunia Rosemary Evans." Joelle said, still with that grin. Aunt Petunia abruptly stopped screaming at that and stared at Joelle. If Harry was in Petunia's shoes, he would be heading in the opposite direction of Joelle.

"What? Who? Freak!" Petunia finally sputtered.

"Now, now Petunia, that's not something a respectable lady should say." Joelle admonished, "In fact, your sister is very disappointed in you. So are your parents."

Petunia paled, "Impossible. You look like…"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah." Joelle waved off whatever Petunia was about to say, but it just made Harry look up in interest, "Now Petunia, we need to have some girl-to-girl talk. Harry, head up to your room. Don't be too worried if you hear things." Joelle dismissed him.

"Why can't I stay?" Harry asked hurt.

Joelle turned to him, "Unless you want to hear the most private of girl things, I suggest you leave. Write letters to your friends, do something, or even better meditate. That will definitely help you with your erratic core."

Harry turned a deep red as he imagined exactly what Joelle was talking about before making his way to his room quickly. He would rather be locked in his room all summer than listen to girl conversations. Even if one of said girls was dead.

As he shut his door, he heard his Aunt Petunia scream again. Briefly he wondered if Joelle was torturing her, but then figured his aunt disserved it. Then he doubted himself again and turned to open his door once more but Joelle appeared right in front of him, making him jump back in shock and fall onto the ground.

"I swear to you right now, I will not hurt your Aunt." Joelle said before disappearing once more. Harry stared at the floor where she had disappeared for a moment before taking a deep breath. If she swore, than he figured it had to be legitimate.

Hopefully.

Harry stared around his room in absolute boredom. He had nothing with him. That's when it really hit him and he collapsed backwards onto his bed.

Sirius was gone, he had just seen his parents, and now he had a slightly annoying ghost to deal with. Plus, Dumbledore was lying to him and Mrs. Weasley had apparently done something between him and Ginny. And he had walked out of the Ministry of Magic because a ghost had told him so! He hadn't even gone back to Hogwarts to get his stuff!

Harry groaned and flung an arm over his eyes. A ghost! He was dealing with a ghost! A slightly pretty ghost too, dark hair, hazel eyes…

"Wait a second, what am I doing?" Harry asked the empty room, "She's dead! Stop thinking about her that way!" he scolded himself.

"I hope you aren't talking about me, because now we need to do some serious planning." Joelle's voice said.

Harry sat up quickly. Joelle had one eyebrow quirked as a slight smile settled on her face. She was leaning, sort of, against the bedroom wall, waiting for an answer.

"Ah, no?" Harry tried.

"Wow, you suck at lying. Maybe that will be what I first teach you." Joelle said in response, "So, I got your Aunt all figured out. She'll actually treat you normal now. Well, normal-ish. At least better."

Harry furrowed his eyebrows, "How…?"

Joelle waved his question off, "Not important right now. What is important is improving you. First thing, where's your wand?"

Harry pulled it out of his pocket in answer to her question.

Joelle groaned, "Of course. Tomorrow, we are getting a wand holster."

"How? I can't exactly get there." Harry asked, rolling his eyes at Joelle.

"Three options, one, use my travel again," Harry actually shivered at the prospect of having to use that horrible thing again, "Two, the knight bus, or three, the creepy old lady down the street has a floo."

"Mrs. Figg?" Harry asked surprised.

"Yeah, her, the crazy kneazle lady. Absolutely insane, but she does have a floo."

"Aren't there any normal options? You know, ones that don't involve me potentially dying?" Harry asked exasperated.

Joelle gave him a look and Harry instantly back tracked, "Ah, why don't we just use Mrs. Figg's floo?"

Joelle gave a small nod, "We will have to wait until she leaves though, otherwise she will try to stop us, well, you really because there is no way she could stop me."

"You mean break in? But that's illegal!" Harry protested.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, whatever. Sometimes you have to do illegal things. Besides, she never locks her kitchen door; you won't even have to break anything." Joelle assured Harry.

"Great." Harry deadpanned.

Joelle ignored him, "Next thing we need to do is work on your physical training. You are a stick!"

"I play quidditch!" Harry protested weakly, knowing that somehow, she was going to find a fault in it.

"Yes, you rock at flying, got that, but you can't run worth squat. So, you are going to go jogging around the block every morning."

Harry groaned. He was right.

"Then, I'm going to get you better at magic, where it isn't so erratic. Your grades are abysmal at times and your mum really wanted me to correct that, so we are going to work on that as well. Also, she wanted me to improve your potion skills; you've barely been scraping by apparently."

Harry groaned, falling back onto his bed, at the thought of school work, especially potions.

"Eventually, I will teach you how to destroy Tom."

She said it so casually that it actually took Harry a second to register it. When he did, it sat up very quickly, "Defeat Voldemort? Are you serious?"

"Of course." Joelle held up a semi-transparent hand to stop his questions before he could even think of any, "I'm not telling you now because you will rush off and end up getting yourself killed. Frankly, it should only take about a month to get suitably prepared, coincidentally the same amount of time you need to stay here. After that, we will really get to work." She finished in a serious tone.

Harry nodded, just happy with the fact that someone was finally working with him on defeating Voldemort.

"For now, get some sleep. I'm going to go get your school things, it's not like you would actually be doing anything useful there anyways." Joelle told him before disappearing.

Harry stared at the spot she had been lounging in before shaking his head and laying on his bed. For the longest time, he just stared at the ceiling as thoughts whirled around in his head, before finally, he fell asleep.


	5. Chapter 5

"Wake up!" a loud voice screamed in Harry's ear, causing his eyes to snap open, and upon seeing a face several inches from his own, jump violently and ending up in a heap on the floor.

"Glad to see you so active at this time." Joelle said, her voice slightly amused.

Harry groaned from his spot on the floor before looking up, squinting at his clock.

"Five o'clock! You woke me up at 5! In the morning!" Harry asked, putting his head back onto the floor and trying to will himself to sleep.

"No falling asleep Harry! You need to get up so we can go running!"

"You can't even run." Harry's muffled voice reached Joelle's ears from beneath Harry's crossed arms.

"Can too. It just looks funny. It's more of a gliding thing." Joelle protested, still amused, "Now, up. We have stuff to do."

"Running should not count."

When Harry didn't move, Joelle came over and started to nudge him with her foot. The passing sensation sent shivers up Harry's spine and he jumped away, effectively waking him up.

"What did you do?" he asked as he rubbed his arms in attempt to get some feeling back in them.

Joelle shrugged, "Ghosts aren't supposed to be passed through and so I just stuck my foot through you. Now, find something you can go running in that's acceptable and off we go."

Harry finally found something that could be called running clothes and turned to Joelle, "Do you mind?"

Joelle shot him an amused look and rolled her eyes, "Sure thing Pretty Boy, just head downstairs when you're done." Then she floated downwards through the floor.

Harry watched her go and shivered once more before changing quickly.

He crept down the stairs, avoiding the squeaky one. Entering the kitchen, he was surprised to see his aunt up.

"Aunt Petunia? What are you doing up?" he asked hesitantly.

She turned to him and Harry was shocked to see the remnants of tears on her face. Then he got the biggest shock of his life as she rushed over to him and hugged him.

Harry stood as still as he could, entirely unused of the feeling of someone hugging him. The only person who probably hugged him was Hermione and she didn't do that that often anyways.

"Oh Harry!" his aunt sobbed. Harry looked around as suitably as he could for Joelle, looking for some back-up. When he finally caught sight of her, she was hanging out a fair distance away, looking at the two of them. The look in her eyes made him wonder though, he could almost swear it was something akin to longing…

"Oh Harry, I'm so sorry!" his aunt wailed once more, this time taking his face in her hands as she looked intensly at him. Harry was starting to feel uncomfortable once more as his aunt stared at him.

"I'm so sorry." She whispered once more, "Go train, come back safely."

Harry now looked at her concerned, but when she nudged him out the door, he obediently left.

He stared at the front door for a moment before turning to Joelle who had followed him out, "What was that?"

"Your aunt did some soul searching." She said, the sadness in her voice obvious. Harry glanced at her curiously, wanting to know, but before he could ask, she shook her head, clearing away any sadness, "Now, off you go, once around the block, let's see how you do."

Harry sighed, resigning himself to the idea of running before taking off.

Barely four houses down Harry stopped, panting.

Joelle drifted next to him, "That was absolutely pathetic." She obviously didn't mince words, "You have absolutely no training and no idea of what to do. When running, unless you are in a sprint, you do not just take off as fast as you can, you have to pace yourself. Even out your breathing."

She waited for Harry to reply, but it took him a little bit, "In the department… of mysteries… I ran just fine…thank you very much."

Joelle actually waved her hand, "That would be called adrenaline. And fear. Of course you are going to run longer, faster. You had adrenaline coursing through your body. Even then, you still got out of breath quickly. You have to build up your stamina."

"And how is running going to help?"

"You have a lot bigger reserves. When in a duel, you won't tire out as quickly because you aren't putting as much energy into dodging. But don't worry, we'll worry about that later. Now, start jogging, slowly."

Harry shot her a look, showing how much he hated the idea before slowly taking off in a light jog. He soon was puffing.

"Don't puff." She advised, drifting alongside him, now she looked like a real ghost, Harry thought wildly, "Take deep even breaths."

Eventually, Harry had to stop, panting with a cramp in his side.

"Not bad," seeing Harry's look of triumph, she was quick to add, "For someone who sucks. Now head back to your aunt's house."

"Okay." Harry wheezed, starting the long trek back.

"No walking! Light, and I mean light jog back!" Joelle ordered. Harry didn't even have the breath to groan or make any other sort of arguments.

Joelle floated along with him this time, giving him encouragement so he didn't just collapse. When he reached his aunt's house, he bent over, his hands on his knees as he tried to get his breath back.

Inside, he could hear voices arguing and he almost turned back around and started running again.

Joelle looked back at him with sympathy, "Don't worry, your aunt can control him. And if not, well…" Joelle's eyes flashed and Harry actually took a step back. Joelle's eyes could say a lot, and right now, they promised a world of hurt for his uncle if he attempted something.

Harry took a shaky breath and nodded, "Okay, I trust you." Harry then thought back in surprise at how true the statement was. He barely knew Joelle, and he trusted her inexplicitly.

"Ready?" Joelle asked, Harry got his breath back and stood up nodding, "Okay, I suppose if I were alive this would be when I would offer my hand for comfort, but I feel like it would provide the opposite."

Harry shrugged, not wanting to insult her outright. All it did was cause her to give a breath grin before motioning him to enter before him.

"You know, can't you go in first?" Harry asked desperately.

"Nope, makes the effect better and I can see your uncle's reaction without revealing myself to him. Don't worry, you'll be fine. Even if I have to transport you to Godric's Hallow or even to Potter Mansion to get you to safety." Joelle promised.

"Potter Mansion?" Harry asked cautiously.

"Not now, "she waved him off, "For now, we must deal with your uncle. Go on."

Harry gave her one last look before opening the door and stepping inside.


	6. Chapter 6

"Boy! Where have you been?! Breakfast was supposed to be made and on the table 5 minutes ago!" his uncle immediately turned to him as he walked in and started yelling at him, ignoring Petunia completely as she tried to talk to him.

"Vernon, no wait, Vernon wait." Petunia tried to talk to him, pulling at his sleeve.

"No Petunia, the boy knows the rules, otherwise…" his uncle left the threat hanging and Harry gulped. Even with the knowledge that he had Joelle as back-up, he was still scared of his uncle.

His uncle took a step forward and Harry took a step back. Then Joelle literally came through the door.

"Ah, Vernon. How nice to see you." Joelle had her shark grin on.

His uncle stopped and stared at Joelle, "Is this more of your freakiness Boy?! You know you aren't allowed to do your freak stuff outside of that freak school of yours, you'll be expelled in no time." Vernon gave Harry an ugly grin.

Joelle laughed, a spine chilling one and everyone took a step away from her including Harry.

"How's the mistress, Vernon?" Joelle said scathingly, "You know, brunettes are so much better than that blond idiot you spend your days with."

There was absolute stillness in the room as everyone stared at either Joelle, who had a smug smirk on her face, or Uncle Vernon who seemed to be trying to achieve the impossible of having his face turn white with horror and purple in anger at the same time.

"You…you…you!" Uncle Vernon could barely speak and Harry watched with fascination as his uncle blustered around with his words and turned interesting colours.

"Mistress?" Petunia screeched in surprise, anger, and hurt. She turned to Vernon, her face terrifying, "You have a mistress!?"

Vernon didn't answer her, just open and closed his mouth like a fish for a solid minute as he tried to get his thoughts in order, he just wasn't sure if he should yell or try and make things better with his wife.

"I don't even want to hear it! Get out!" Petunia screamed, she immediately began shoo-ing him out of the door, and due to his lack of thought at the moment, she was able to achieve it. She slammed the door shut in his face and had to take a minute to calm her breathing down.

Harry watched in slight fascination at his aunt, he turned to look at Joelle and was entirely unsurprised to see her floating there… eating ghost popcorn?

He gave her a funny look, "Is that…ghost… popcorn?"

Joelle paused with a handful on its way to her mouth, "Yes. Yes it is." She then tilted her chin in a way of defiance, although Harry didn't know why she would feel the need to act defiant. After all, it wasn't like anyone could control her. Or at least, anyone mortal.

Aunt Petunia finally took one last deep breath in before turning to face Harry, "Are you alright?"

He shot her a small smile, "You just kicked him out, this is one of the best days in my life."

"Did he…" she hesitated, clearly scared of her upcoming question, "Did he ever hit you?"

"No. Just locked me in the cupboard."

At that, his aunt burst into tears once more and flung herself on him. Harry awkwardly stood there once more as she hugged him as hard as she could. He decided to pat her back a couple times to try and give her the signal that the hug could be over with, but she kept a firm grip on him as she cried. Then he spotted something even more awkward, standing on the stairway, staring at his mother and Harry hugging, Dudley sported a very un-Dudley look.

"Ah, Mum?" Dudley asked, quite confused at the sight before him.

"Oh, Dudley!" Petunia cried.

Dudley continued, "Why is there a girl floating?"

Joelle flashed him a smile, "I'm Joelle. And a ghost."

Dudley nodded slowly, "Right, and I'm a wizard."

"No you're not, but I am a ghost, if you need proof, you sleep cuddling with a stuffed animal. Also, you snore loudly."

Dudley stared at her.

"Don't scare him Joelle." Harry said casually, "I don't think anyone would really accept the idea of a ghost in the first five minutes of seeing one."

"I've seen stranger things than a floating girl. I live with a freaking wizard after all. A ghost? That's nothing." Dudley then dismissed Joelle out of his mind for the moment before heading to the kitchen, "And Mum? Thanks for kicking him out." He added, poking his head back through the doorway to look at his mother.

Aunt Petunia just closed her eyes and took a deep breath in an effort to stem off what would probably constitute for a panic attack.

"Now, Harry, about that wand holster." Joelle started, "We should probably go before 10, after that is when the Alley typically gets the biggest crowds, easier to blend in and sneak around, but a more likely chance of getting caught if you get in trouble. This time at least, we will go when they Alley is less populated."

"Okay, and we are breaking in, sorry, it's not breaking and entering if her door is unlocked," Harry corrected himself. Joelle eyed him, but didn't say anything.

"Let's go. Petunia, we will see you later. Don't worry about the whale, he won't get back in." Joelle promised.

Petunia nodded faintly in reply.

Harry walked outside and waited for Joelle to come out. She floated out, looking immensely pleased about something, but didn't give Harry the opportunity to ask about it, instead, she just started off to Mrs. Figg's house.

"Will we be going to Ollivander's?" Harry asked.

"No, he only deals in wands." Joelle answered, "Don't worry though, we won't walk anywhere where you could potentially get killed."

Harry didn't respond.

"In fact, we will probably just floo straight to the shop, it'll probably be best. Of course, I have to remember the floo address." she murmured to herself.

"How do you know all this stuff?" Harry asked after they had been walking for a few minutes.

Joelle glanced sideways at him, "I got bored. So I wandered around, learned some interesting stuff. Plus, I asked your mum and dad, and all the other dead people I encountered."

"Are you really dead?" Harry couldn't help but ask, "You seem more solid than the other ghosts."

Joelle gave him a sad smile, "Most definitely dead. Unfortunately."

"How old were you?" Harry blurted out, then immediately cursed himself in his mind.

"It's not polite to ask any women their age, be they dead or alive." She pointed out.

Harry blushed and mumbled an apology.

"Not a problem. One day I may tell you." she promised, "For ghosts, dying isn't the best memory, even if it was peacefully."

"What about the ghosts at Hogwarts?" Harry asked.

Joelle shrugged, "They refuse to Pass on, for whatever reason. Every ghost has the choice of either staying, permanently crossing, or being stuck in the middle. Most chose to permanently Pass on. Ones who are stuck in between get stuck for whatever reason, usually a curse, and a select few chose to stay. Most that stay have a guilty conscious about something and are terrified of Passing on, because they dread the consequences they may face. Others stay because they wish to pass on knowledge that they've gained through their life."

"So Binns might actually have a point?" Harry asked out of curiosity.

Joelle made a face, "Maybe at some point in the past, but now he's just a pain. He's something I'm going to change hopefully. Hogwarts is absolutely failing in history in regards to the rest of the world."

"What about the curse on the Defense position?"

Joelle snorted, "Curse! As if. It's nothing more than a psychological thing. After the first couple years when the defense teachers would die because they were involved in the war, students decided it was cursed and told all the teachers that. They've made it a psychological thing. Every teacher that has come in has gone the entire year believing something will happen to them and then when something does, it must be the curse acting up!"

"Psychological? But it's a curse!" Harry protested mildly.

She rolled her eyes, "A psychological curse sure, but there is nothing on the position. Like with Umbridge, I'm surprised no one just killed her. There were plenty of Dark students who hated her too. Relying on a curse is stupid. Actually, wizards in general are stupid."

"Hey! I take offense to that!"

"Good, maybe you'll make smart decisions now. Like thinking before you act." Joelle shot back.

"I'm a Gryffindor, what do you expect?" Harry mumbled in defiance, "Oh look, Mrs. Figgs house! Let's not go break in!"

Then he strode past Joelle, ignoring her. He also ignored the sigh that he heard from her before hoisting himself over Mrs. Figg's fence and sneaking over to the back door. Cautiously, he tested the handle and was surprised to see that it was indeed unlocked.

"Oh, look at that. It's unlocked." Joelle said sarcastically from behind him. Then it was her turn to go ahead of him, purposely going through him so Harry got a blast of cold air settling over him.

Teeth chattering, he stood up and walked in, shutting the door behind him, "Why did you do that?"

Joelle turned towards him, "If you're going to act petty, then I will too. Equals the balance out." Harry just walked past her, making sure to give her an extra wide berth in case she tried to purposely step, float whatever into his path.

He found Mrs. Figg's floo powder sitting in that ugly vase on top of her fireplace. He had always hated it, it was the ugliest piece of decoration he had ever seen. Although, it did make a perfect hiding spot for the floo powder.

"What's the floo address?" Harry asked, turning towards Joelle slightly.

She reached up and scratched her head, "Vihreapuu Wands. Remember, speak clearly." Harry could see the amusement in her eyes and was reminded of his second year, "Here's an incentive to say it right, if you don't you'll probably end up in Finland. Or Sweden. Basically, you won't be in England anymore."

"Thanks," he replied before rolling his shoulders in an attempt to alleviate the sudden tenseness he felt and then took a deep breath to calm himself, he threw down the powder and stepped in, "Vihreapuu Wands." He said clearly and firmly. Then he was off.


	7. Chapter 7

_**IMPORTANT**: If you are an old reader getting an update, it is important, vitally important to know that I have changed the chapters! Whereas before my first couple chapters were pathetically short (less than 500 words, truly pathetic) , I have finagled it so now they are longer. So this isn't really an update, (I believe) but you all are welcome to go back and re-read the chapters, I did add in some parts to make the story flow better and to just make it a little longer over all, but it isn't super necessary. Just so you all know! Happy Christmas all!_

Harry felt the familiar awfulness of Floo transportation and was praying that he had pronounced the name right when he felt himself coming in for the landing. Then he landed in a heap on the floor of an unfamiliar store. At least this time his glasses hadn't snapped.

A warm chuckle made Harry look up, "Not one made for Floo I see!" With a laugh, a large man hauled Harry up by his arm before taking the liberty to dust some of the Floo powder off of Harry.

"At least there was no vomiting with you!" the man said in a laughing voice.

Harry squinted at the taller man, taking in his brown hair and laughing grey eyes. Then he looked around the shop, taking in the racks of various objects. One section was about potion ingredients, but the majority of the shop was dedicated to what Harry assumed to be wand holsters.

"Is this Vihreapuu Wands?" Harry asked hesitantly. Although it looked like the right place, the name was horribly difficult to pronounce and Harry was hoping he hadn't ended up in some other country, or worse, someplace he definitely was not supposed to be. Like when he had ended up in Knockturn Alley.

"Yes indeed, what are you looking for today?" the man asked happily. Harry felt a sigh of relief course through him, but then he realized something was off about the figure that stood in front of him.

"Sorry, but are you from here?" Harry asked after staring at the larger man in front of him for a slightly longer moment than was polite. Hopefully that was what was different about this man; that he just spoke differently and not something else that Harry had managed to insult somehow.

"You hear my accent? Most do not, but to answer your question, yes and no. Born here, raised in Finland, moved to England to attend Hogwarts. Left Britain for a little bit and then decided to come back here to sell my wand holsters." He answered easily; then he stuck out a large hand, "Elias Vihreapuu, pleased to meet you, are you looking for something in particular?"

Harry shook his hand, "Harry Potter. I apparently need a wand holster."

"Wait!" Joelle's voice cried from somewhere. Harry looked around for her and then spotted her coming in from the ceiling. She saw their hands in the middle of the handshake and groaned.

"You already introduced yourself didn't you? You aren't supposed to do that, we're supposed to be here in secret." Joelle complained.

"A Puolet-Ghost? How may I help you?" Elias asked, letting go off Harry's hand and giving a little bow to Joelle.

Harry could see the blush spread across her face and she mumbled something under her breath before clearing her throat and saying, "Sort of, yes. I apologize. Knucklehead here likes to speak before he thinks."

Elias laughed, "It is no problem Puolet-Ghost. I am no Death Eater. What do you call yourself?"

"Joelle. And, I know that you're trustworthy, I've been watching from the other side for a long time to find a trustworthy wand holster wizard. Longer than we should had actually." She muttered the last part to herself.

"I am honored to be of service." He said humbly, "Please, how may I help you?"

"We need a wand holster for Mr. Jameson here." Joelle answered, pointing at Harry.

"Jameson? But my last name is…"

"Yes, I know that, but you can't go around just blurting your name, that would be like asking for someone to off you just because they feel like it. Instead, you'll be going by Charles Jameson. Charles was your grandfather just so you know." She added as an afterthought.

"Come Mr. Jameson, enter my workshop." Elias said, walking over to one of the open back doors and gestured for Harry to go first.

Harry glanced around in confusion at the wand holsters already made, "I'm not getting one of these?" he asked as he walked over and entered the back room.

Elias followed after him, "No, you are in the company of Joelle the Puolet-Ghost. You are obviously very special, special enough to warrant a personalized wand holster, one that may even stand against those ghastly Death Eaters and their leader." he said proudly, before walking ahead of Harry and sitting down in a chair, "Now, Charles," there was a hint of laughter in his eyes as he said the name, "Walk around and pick up what feels best."

Harry looked around first. The workshop was surprisingly small, and every wall, besides the desk area Elias was sitting at, was covered in shelves that held boxes of things. None were see-through.

Harry wandered around the room, not entirely sure what he was looking for, was he supposed to do something special?

"You aren't supposed to think. Allow your magic to find it." Elias finally spoke, "Some find that closing their eyes helps."

Harry sighed softly and decided to just close his eyes and do his best to not think about anything except for his magic. Harry was then surprised to find his feet turning and taking steps. He kept his eyes closed though, allowing his magic to guide him. He stopped and picked up a box.

"Interesting choice." Elias remarked. Harry opened his eyes to look at the box he had picked. It was a square box, with only a faint black curling design around the box.

"Elias. Does having a… oh what's the word? _Maaginen loinen_ affect what he chooses?" Joelle suddenly asked after getting a look at the box.

"_Maaginen_…?" then Elias burst off into a string of words muttered in his native tongue of Finnish.

Harry glanced nervously at Joelle and Elias, "Is something wrong with me?"

"Ei ole kertonut h_**a**_nelle viel_**a**_?" Elias demanded to Joelle.

She bit her lip, "Ah, H_**a**_n ei ole…viel_**a**_..valmis?" she finished questioningly.

He narrowed his eyes, but finally nodded, "I see. And when will that be?" he asked in English this time.

"As soon as I know he won't go running off to meet him. Or do something equally idiotic. He's still 100% a Gryffindor. We need to get a little self-preservation in him before I tell him. Or he'll figure it out on his own." Joelle explained to Elias.

Harry raised his hand in an attempt to bring notice to him, "Ah, excuse me? Yes, you lost me about five minutes ago, anyone care to explain?" Elias and Joelle explained looks, then Elias gestured for Joelle to go ahead before leaning back in his chair and placing his hands behind his head.

Harry could see Joelle struggling with her words, "You aren't ready yet." She finally decided on.

"Really? That's all I've been hearing for the past five years now, I want some answers!" he demanded.

"Well, you can't have them. You aren't ready yet." Joelle answered just as stubbornly.

"And when will I be ready?"

Joelle eyed him, "Once you've proven yourself. And that's all I'm going to say on the matter."

Harry opened his mouth to retort, but decided against it, instead forcing himself to swallow his words and turning away from her.

"You're annoying." He muttered.

"There are worse things to be called." Joelle said matter-of-factly, "Going back to my previous question, Elias, does it matter?"

He sighed, "Yes. It does. It will never feel exactly right until it is out. I will do the best I can, but he will not be 100% happy with it. How long has it been there?" Elias asked, taking the box from Harry's hands gingerly.

Joelle bit her lip, "A long time?" she tried. Elias stopped what he was doing and turned to her, giving her a look.

"Does a long time mean more than a month? I can't make an accurate holster unless I know the exact things I need to work around. If it has been more than a month, this will severely affect his holster." Elias explained, "Based on your reaction, it is obviously a long time. So, how long?"

"You know, maybe something like, oh, I don't know, 15 years or so?"

Everything about Elias stopped. He set the box gently on the table and turned around to face Joelle. His face was blank and Harry felt a rush of fear go through him at the sight of Elias.

"Fifteen years? Fifteen years?" Elias repeated slowly, "Let me get this straight, he," pointing at Harry, "The grand Boy-Who-Lived, the one who grew up in the magical version of the Muggle's palace, has had a _Maaginen loinen_ for fifteen years?"

"A palace! I will have you know I spent the first 11 years of my life sleeping in the cupboard under the stairs in my aunt's house!" Harry said indignantly.

"Fifteen years?" Elias repeated, not seeming to hear Harry's denial of living in a palace or the fact that Harry had actually said aloud that he had slept in a cupboard for the first 11 years of his life.

"I couldn't do anything about it, I was stuck on the other side of the veil! We can't do anything except observe and remember." Joelle protested weakly, "If you do want someone to blame, look at their ministry or someone equally as powerful."

"I refuse to make him a wand holster until that thing is out." Elias said firmly, ignoring her option of blaming a higher official. In Elias' mind, Joelle was the highest authority.

"But we can't get it out. It's got the Mother's Protection Ritual surrounding it. Either someone needs to shoot the killing curse at him, or we go to Heaven's Trail in Ireland in seventy years. Or we could use a time turner and go back nine years. Both ways are horrible." Joelle explained.

"Or you could go to the goblins." Elias suggested, glaring at Joelle now, "They can easily fix something like that. Or did you not bother to look at the lower creatures?" Elias mocked.

"The goblins refused." Joelle hissed out at him, the air going slightly colder in her immediate vicinity, "Don't you think we thought of them first? Of course we did! But they refused on account of 'irrevocable differences with the wizards.' In fact, they said, 'Why should we take special notice of their Saviour? If you want that out of him, it'll cost you a fortune.' And by fortune, they meant several prominent Pure-Blood families having nothing." Joelle mocked, "Don't account me for a fool Elias Vihreapuu son of Anni and Miko."

There was silence as the two glared at each other fiercely. Harry was just grateful that their glares were not directed at him. Harry was pretty sure he would have died from the amount of animosity in the two glares.

After an agonizing minute of silence, Elias finally looked away, "Forgive me, I had forgotten who I was working with." He actually gave a little bow towards Joelle to accompany his apology.

Harry sighed with relief as he felt the cold Joelle had created slowly start to dissipate.

"Now, will someone please explain to me what just happened? I'm obviously the subject here, but I was lost for that entire conversation." Harry finally spoke up, "If what you are worried about is me running off and blabbing to everyone, you can rest assured that I'm not going to do that."

"You have a magical parasite on you." Elias bluntly said, ignoring the exasperated look Joelle sent him.

"I just told you that he wasn't ready yet!" she complained to Elias.

"A wand holster is basically an extension of your magic. If I made you a wand holster right now, it would not cooperate as well with you as it should. If that parasite has really been in you for fifteen years, the holster would feel all wrong. And, you would never be able to receive a custom made one because your magic has already been attuned to a specific wand holster."

"I'm sorry, but why is it so difficult to create one? Isn't a wand holster just like a gun holster? Malfoy's dad had his in his cane. You didn't even know it was there until he drew it." Harry asked.

"Malfoy." Elias sniffed, "A French name, which means they come from France, so they follow their ancestor's tradition to use a cane in the attempt to disguise their wands. Trust me, everyone knows that his cane holds his wand. The French are quite pretty, but sometime lack in their creativity. Then again, they are better than the British who typically just stick it in their pocket."

"Okay, so what's so special about yours then?" Harry asked, perhaps leaning a little towards the mocking side, but if Elias or Joelle detected it, neither remarked on it.

"The Vihreapuu family makes very special wand holsters, it is actually our family magic. We sell the basic ones, the ones arranged in the front. I assume these are the ones you were talking about. However, the holster you are receiving is special."

Elias then spread his arms open wide as though he were about to give someone a bear hug, "Do you see any wand holster on me?"

Harry scrutinized him carefully, but could see no sign of any holster, so he shook his head, "Do you not have it on you?" he asked finally.

Elias grinned, "Wrong." Then with a flick of his wrist, his wand was in his hand.

"Wait, what? How did you…?" Harry asked flabbergasted. That wand was definitely not in his hand earlier, and Harry had been watching closely. He kept looking at Elias' wand and then to his face.

Joelle's laughs brought Harry out of his stupor.

Harry looked at Joelle then back at Elias, "How…?"

Elias joined Joelle in the laughter, "I love to do that! People's reactions are the best!" Elias was laughing so hard that tears started to leak from his eyes, and Harry actually felt a bit concerned about him as he continued.

Finally though, Elias managed to get himself under control with several deep breaths.

"Alright, enough laughing. Now for the explaining. Notice this?" Elias set his wand down on the table before turning and offering his wrist for Harry's examination.

"A cheap black bracelet?" Harry asked skeptically.

"This is no ordinary cheap black bracelet. It is my wand holster." Elias said proudly.

"I don't think that wands are meant to bend that much." Harry said dryly.

Elias gave a short laugh, "My wand does not go into the bracelet, nor does it wrap around. Watch." Then Elias picked up his wand and held it up for Harry's examination. Then he pressed the tip parallel to the bracelet. After a second or two, the bracelet lit up, then his wand. Harry watched with his mouth wide open as Elias slid his wand up and disappeared at the same time. The only thing visible was the very tip of the handle, which looked like a decorative piece for the cheap bracelet.

"How did you do that? Is it just invisible?" Harry asked, curiosity burning through him. Harry reached his finger out before he realized what he was doing and then hurriedly brought it back to his chest once he realized.

"No, it's not invisible." Elias answered, and then rotated his wrist around and bent his arm to show that his wand was not in fact resting invisibly against the inside of his arm, "It is difficult to explain, and I would not explain to someone outside of my family, but know that your wand is safe, and best of all, no one realizes that you have a wand. No sensors can detect it, and no one can accio it away from you. I do not make these for everybody. I have made maybe five in my time as head of the shop. My father made three. But for you, Harry Potter, who surprisingly, has a Poulet-Ghost with him, I will make one for you. After of course, you get parasite out of you." Elias added.

Translations! (disclaimer: I don't speak Finnish, this was used by a translation app that has never given me something stupid before, but if it is wrong and you speak Finnish, let me know)

Ei ole kertunut h_**a**_nelle viel_**a**_: you haven't told him yet?

H_**a**_n ei ole viel_**a**_ valmis: he isn't ready yet

maaginen loinen: magical parasite

maaginen: magical


	8. Chapter 8

_New year, new chapter! I hope you all had an amazing New Years, I personally had an awesome time in the Rose Bowl Parade. Please leave some of your thoughts!_

"Idiootti." Joelle practically hissed at Elias in Finnish, breaking the silence following Elias' dramatic monologue, she then continued in English, "Elias, unless you plan on casting the killing curse at Ha…Charles, right now, that parasite isn't going to disappear until he gets in a fight with Voldemort. Or one of his lackeys gets lucky enough to hit his scar."

He gave her a level look, "Do you wish me to do it? Because my shop is untraceable. Your ministry wouldn't be able to track it."

"Wait! Hold up!" Harry yelled, "If someone is planning on shooting the killing curse at me, I need to be involved in this conversation! In fact, if it weren't for the fact, the strange fact mind you, that I trust Joelle, I would have been out of here at the first mention of killing me! Now will someone please explain to me what is going on?" he finished, giving the two of them glares.

Joelle sighed and looked at Elias, but he simply gestured for her to go ahead, "Jatka vain. T_**a**_m_**a**_ on alueen asiantuntemusta .This is your problem. You explain it. I do not know Mr. Jameson here well enough to make judgments on this sort of matter."

Joelle stuck her tongue out at Elias in a very mature way before turning to Harry, "Kiitos. T_**a**_m_**a**_ on vaikea. Sallitaank voitaisiin keskustella yksin t_**aa**_ll_**a**_?" Harry could tell it was a question directed at Elias even though she was facing Harry, but beyond that he had no idea what Joelle had just asked.

"Kyll_**a**_." Elias answered grudgingly after a second.

"Then will you please leave?" Joelle asked in English after a moment when Elias just sat there.

There was silence after Joelle asked, but Elias finally, grumbling, got up and walked to the door, with one final warning, "Do not touch anything." He left, shutting the door behind him.

"Harry. Some people are afraid of death." Joelle started.

"I could have told you that. And, what's with the foreign language? I don't understand a word you're saying." Harry interrupted.

Joelle gave him a short glare, "That's the point. As I was saying, some people are so afraid of death that they go to great lengths to avoid it."

"Like the Flamels'?" Harry asked, recalling the philosophers stone that he, Hermione, and Ron had gone after. He would question her about the Finnish later.

Joelle shrugged, "I have no idea. I never bothered to look into them. Maybe. But some people, they go to terrible lengths to avoid death. Like Tom."

Harry was paying a lot more attention now.

"When he was a boy, about your age, a little older I believe, he became scared of death. Absolutely terrified of it. The entire idea was his worst nightmare. So he began to research ways to live longer, to avoid death. For the longest time, he found nothing. Then he went looking into the Dark books, and I mean the Dark books. Ones that will destroy your soul if you read them for too long. Those books poisoned his mind to the point of not being able to save it. He had already read of a way, but nothing ever mentioned how to do it."

"Do what? Stop being so dramatic!" Harry said, getting tired of her drawing things out.

She gave him a short glare, "Anyways, what he found was a way to split his soul apart as a way to remain on Earth."

Harry blinked, "Split his soul?"

"Yes, everyone has a soul, no matter how twisted it may be. It's what keeps us alive. The Longbottom's, for example, have no souls, their souls have passed on. But their bodies remain."

"Like how the Dementors take a soul." Harry interjected.

"Like the Dementors yes." Joelle acknowledged, "A person's soul is the thing that defines them. You can torture a body beyond recognition bet their soul can be as strong as ever. Tom Riddle ripped his soul apart. Souls are never meant to be separated, not for any reason. Tom split his soul in seven pieces. Seven pieces Harry. The soul isn't meant to even be split in two, and Tom did it seven times. These soul pieces are called Horcruxes here in the land of the living."

Harry could sense the evil behind the name as he listened with horror-filled interest.

"The reason Tom is still living is because of these Horcruxes, it's why he didn't die when he attacked you as a baby. To destroy Tom permanently, you have to destroy his Horcruxes."

"Wait," Harry interrupted, "I thought you were waiting to tell me how to defeat Tom?"

Joelle grimaced, "Well, that was the original plan, but Elias refusing to make you a wand holster put a damper in that plan."

"Why?" Harry asked with narrowed eyes, he could sense something was about to revealed here, something that was vitally important.

"Because when Tom attacked you that night, he made another Horcrux. In you." Joelle answered, resigning herself to this now.

"He put a piece of his soul, in me?" Harry asked, horrified.

Joelle nodded, "It's why you still have your scar, why it's still so prominent. It's true that scars caused by darker magic will leave scars that can't be cured by magic, but they do fade. Because of the presence of that soul piece in you, it leaves your scar raw. Like how it burns whenever you experience a vision or whenever you are, or at least, were, in his presence. The ways to get it out are through a complicated old ritual of the goblins, but they refused when we went to them to ask for help. Another is to go to Heaven's Trail when Halley's comet is overhead, but that doesn't happen for another seventy years. We could use a time-turner and go back nine years, but that would just be a recipe for disaster, so using Heaven's Trail wouldn't work. The third way is to shoot the killing curse precisely at your scar, effectively killing it and not you."

"That's what you and Elias meant when you were talking earlier about getting the parasite out of me."

"Yes. I wanted to wait, so you wouldn't freak out and go running off to the over-cooked chicken club." Joelle explained.

Harry gave her a wry grin, "'Over-cooked chicken club?' I'm pretty sure they would take offense to that nickname."

"Good. That's the point." Joelle sniffed haughtily. Then she grinned back and gave a short laugh, "You have to admit it would be funny seeing their reactions though."

Harry breathed out a small laugh, "Sure. Whatever you say." Harry stopped and examined the ghost in front of him then, he was struck by how young she looked, "Joelle, how old would you be if you were alive now?" he asked suddenly.

Her youthful face was full of surprise for a quick moment before she answered, "Fifteen. Give or take."

"Give or take?" Harry questioned.

"Look, I don't want to talk about it." She snapped at him, "Moving back to important matters, what do you wish to do?"

Silently promising himself that he would ask her again later and that he would eventually get her story out of her, he accepted the curveball she threw and answered promptly, "Have Elias kill it. I don't want to live another moment with this thing in my head." She nodded seriously and started to turn to get Elias when Harry spoke again, "Joelle, the other things, will I have to shoot the killing curse at them?"

"No. The other ones we can use basilisk venom or Fiendfyre. You could use the Sword of Gryffindor because it's a goblin made weapon so it absorbed the basilisk venom's potency when you stabbed the basilisk back in your second year." She answered, not turning towards Harry.

Harry examined her for a moment, sensing that that wasn't was she was really planning on doing at all, and asked, "What were you planning on doing?"

After a moments hesitation she answered, "Taking the soul pieces from whatever is housing them. As a 'Poulet-Ghost', I am able to take souls from objects, leaving the objects intact." She told him honestly, turning towards him.

"Why aren't you doing that with me?" Harry asked confused, "If you can do that to the other objects, why not on me?"

"Because Tom's soul has been in you for almost 16 years. It is so intermingled with your own soul that I might end up pulling both of your souls, leaving you in a state similar to the Longbottom's. Shooting the killing curse at your scar will be like shooting the killing curse at any normal person. The scar is the entry point for his soul, so the best way to get rid of it is to shoot the killing curse at its entry point." She explained, "Now, are you ready?"

"One more question, I got bit by the basilisk in my second year, why didn't that destroy it? If basilisk poison can destroy those things for good, why didn't it destroy the one in me?"

"Fawkes. He ended up healing both souls. Now, stop stalling, are you ready?"

Harry made a face, "I'm about to willing ask Elias, a man I hardly know, to cast the killing curse at me based on what a ghost I have known for all of two days has told me. I think any sane person would be feeling doubts right now. But, sure, let's do it. I've always doubted my sanity."

"Haha, you're hilarious." Joelle deadpanned before going through the door ahead of Harry. Harry took a moment to grumble before opening the door.

"Are you ready?" Elias asked when he caught sight of Harry in the doorway, "I am willing to do this based on the presence of the Poulet-Ghost, but understand that I would never do this otherwise. I consider killing someone else to be one of the worst things anyone can do." He said grimly, "How should we do this?" he asked Joelle.

"Well, he should be lying down because once you cast the curse at him, he will experience great pain. The Horcrux will fight as it leaves his body, however Harry's soul will win. For a moment, he will seem dead, but he won't be, that will be when the Horcrux leaves his body. Harry's soul will remain behind in his body as it is supposed to be." Joelle explained, coming to a stop between Harry and Elias.

"Follow me then," Elias said, turning and heading towards another part of his shop, "We will use the room in which I do business with people, there is a couch in there as well for you to recline on." He explained, leading Harry and Joelle into another room which Harry had not noticed in his initial glance around Elias shop., "No one can come in once I close the door, so we will have privacy."

"But don't you have other customers to be worrying about?" Harry asked once Elias had closed the door behind them.

"I closed the shop." Elias explained, walking ahead of them, "Most people who want a custom wand holster come through the Floo, and then once I saw Joelle, I closed the shop because I knew this was no ordinary visit. Now, lie down on the couch and try not to be tense."

Harry couldn't help feeling like this was the worst idea that he ever had. Worse than going after the basilisk, worse than purposefully going after Sirius, worse than any other idea he had ever gone through before. This probably took the cake, "I am an idiot." He muttered. He was asking someone to shoot the killing curse at him, based on what some random ghost he knew all of two days had said. He was officially an idiot.

"Hm, probably." Joelle agreed.

"You aren't supposed to say that!"

"Relax." Elias soothed, "As far as I know, this is painless. Then again, no one's ever come back from the dead. Kuolema ei anna sen." He muttered under his breath.

"Also not helpful." Harry muttered under his own breath, closing his eyes so he didn't have to see the wand come near him.

Elias' mouth quirked, then he carefully aimed his wand at Harry's forehead.

Harry shot up, smacking his head on Elias wand, but he ignored it, "Wait! What am I doing? This is the stupidest thing I have ever done! I don't want to have someone cast the killing curse at me! Especially someone I barely know! No way! This is insanity!" Harry said, pushing Elias away and standing up. He glared at the two figures in front of him, folding his arms and planting his feet firmly on the ground, "I absolutely refuse to do this."

"Then I will not do it. I will never cast this curse at you unless you ask for it." Elias answered simply in response. He tucked his wand back away into his holster and walked to the door, "What do you intend to do now _Poulet-Ghost_?" he asked Joelle.

Said ghost folded her arms and muttered unintelligible things under her breath for a moment before answering, "I suppose we will go back to his aunt's house and do some meditating. That always helps an erratic core."

Elias raised an eyebrow at the sight of the pouting ghost in front of him before asking, "He has an erratic core as well? When were you planning on mentioning this fact to me?"

Joelle didn't answer him, but muttered under her breath a little more. She shook herself out of her complaining state before answering, "It doesn't matter now does it? We will return. Thank you Elias."

Elias looked like he was going to argue with her, but instead, merely pressed his lips together in a thin line, "Whatever you wish." Then he opened the door and held it open, like he was escorting Harry and Joelle out, "It is nearing dark, I hope you have a plan in mind." Elias said as the two passed him.

"Of course." Joelle snapped, "I'm not an idiot. Harry, before you head to Mrs. Figg's, try using this: Evans Home." She floated next to Elias, an irritated look on her face.

"What's there?" Harry asked as he walked over to the fireplace.

"If Petunia followed through, that should be your new floo address. This way we won't constantly have to use Mrs. Figg's floo constantly." Joelle answered.

Harry stopped in his motions to consider what he had just heard, he wasn't sure if that was really what he had heard, "Evans home?" he questioned, turning to look back at Joelle.

"Yes, now try it." Joelle turned her ire towards Harry and he was quick to turn away from her and back towards the fireplace, "I need to speak to Elias about something, so I won't be along for a bit. If 'Evans Home' doesn't work, then just use Mrs. Figgs address and hope she isn't there. If she is, come up with a decent excuse for heaven's sake. Do not tell her where you actually went, if you do and I find out, I'm going to keep information from you." Joelle threatened; then continued, "I'll be along in a bit."

"The floo powder is in that jar to your right." Elias called out to Harry.

"Thanks." Harry said before he threw down the powder, stepped in, and spoke, "Evans Home." For a moment, nothing happened. Then, Harry was gone. The last thing he saw was Joelle turning to Elias with a serious look on her face.

"Tell me all you know about Poulet-Ghosts." Joelle turned to Elias and demanded. Joelle knew that Petunia would come through, she really had taken their little heart-to-heart chat seriously.

Elias looked at Joelle with a curious expression, "Why do you want to know? You are one." Joelle pursed her lips and looked away from Elias.

Elias examined the ghost in front of him and had a realization, "You aren't a Poulet-Ghost." Elias stated after a moments silence.

"Not in the way you are thinking, no." Joelle admitted.

"Et ole demoni." He murmured to himself, "My_**o**_sk_**aa**_n sin_**a **_kirottu henki."

"So what are you then?" Elias finally asked Joelle in English, looking her straight in the eye

Translations!

Idiootti: idiot

Jatka vain: go ahead

T_**a**_m_**a**_ on alueen asiantuntemusta: This is your area of expertise.

Kiitos: thank you

T_**a**_m_**a**_ on vaikea: This will be difficult.

Sallitaank voitaisiin keskustella yksin t_**aa**_ll_**a**_?: will you allow us to talk alone in here?

Kyll_**a**_: yes

Kuolema ei anna sen: death would never allow it

Et ole demoni: you are not a demon

My_**o**_sk_**aa**_n sin_**a **_kirottu henki: nor are you a cursed spirit


	9. Chapter 9

Harry tumbled out onto a familiar carpet. He coughed and waved a hand around his head trying to clear the floo powder from around him.

"Harry's back Mum!" Harry heard Dudley say from somewhere in the Floo powder.

"Oh good! Dinners ready too!" he heard his aunt reply from what seemed to be the kitchen area. Harry's head snapped up in shock, his aunt, cooking? He wasn't even sure she knew how to make anything edible anymore, what with making him do it for all those years. Then again, he was gone nine months out of the year, and Dudley still looked like a beached whale, albeit a skinny one, so obviously she must have remembered some of her old cooking skills.

Strong hands lifted Harry to a standing position and helped brush the Floo powder off, "Here, let me help." He heard Dudley say. Then he was lifting Harry's glasses off of Harry's face. Harry had a moment of panic that Dudley was going to run off and break his glasses, but was reassured when only a second or two later Dudley put them back on Harry's face, clean. Harry blinked owlishly at Dudley for a moment, surprised at Dudley's thoughtfulness.

"I never knew they were so messy." His aunt Petunia remarked. Harry looked past Dudley to see Aunt Petunia standing there, looking at the two of them thoughtfully, "I would have thought wizards would have figured out how to make it cleaner by now."

"It did seem more messy than the others times I've been on it." Harry remarked carefully. He wasn't use to this at all, and part of him was still expecting his uncle to show up randomly, announce it had all been a mistake, and throw him back into his room with bread crumbs as his meal for an unknown amount of time.

"Still, the look that wizard gave me when I requested the Floo was awful, I wanted to bash his head in with the mixing bowl, just to show that just because I'm a muggle," here she sniffed to show what she thought of the term, "doesn't mean I can't still brain him with the bowl."

Dudley grinned, "You should have seen the way the wizard scurried out when Mum finally lost her patience with him, it was a sight to behold. For free, he even gave us some of that powder stuff, Mum was terrifying."

Harry nodded slowly.

"Where's Joelle?" Petunia asked when she peered into the living room and saw the lack of the ghosts' presence.

Harry shrugged, "She stayed behind to talk to Elias about something. I wasn't invited. It seemed important though."

Petunia nodded and then disappeared back into the kitchen to finish dinner.

Harry stood there awkwardly as Dudley followed after his mother. How on earth was he supposed to act with them? Like a normal family?

"Harry! Come in and help Dudley set the table!" his aunt called from the kitchen. Harry scrambled to follow, resisting the urge to pinch himself to see if this was a dream or not. Harry stood in the doorway as he watched his aunt and cousin interact in the kitchen and could barely believe that it was actually happening.

"Harry! Stop standing in the doorway and help Dudley with the setting!" she chastised gently as she stirred something in her hands.

Moving as if in a fog, Harry worked his way over to the cupboards and accepted the pile of plates from Dudley. Methodically, he set them up as Dudley worked on the silverware. He grabbed the glasses next and Dudley grabbed the napkins. When everything was set, Harry stared in barely hidden confusion at the table and his relatives. Aunt Petunia had set the food on the table and seemed very proud of herself.

"Well, let's eat." She proclaimed, sitting down at the table herself and waiting for Dudley and Harry. Harry sat down more slowly than Dudley, who seemed to have been magnetized to his chair, but was glad that he hadn't immediately dug into the food.

As the two started spooning out food and chatting with each other, Harry quietly took food, nibbling at it as he watched with wonder at the conversation flowing around him. For once, there was no ridiculous name calling, and they were actually having a decent conversation.

"Well, hello there." Everyone jumped as Joelle suddenly seemed to crash land on the table, she blinked as she took in her surroundings, "Ah, sorry about that. Obviously I misplaced my landing."

"Obviously." Harry quipped back under his breath.

"I heard that mister." Joelle said, turning towards him, but Harry could see a light of amusement in her eyes, "Anyways, it's all taken care of, don't worry. We'll get to concentrating on your training instead. Elias shouldn't be so freaked out next time."

"Um, sorry to bother you Joelle, but could you possibly move? You're standing in the mashed potatoes and though I figure it won't really bother you if I reach through, I find it really creepy." Dudley asked awkwardly. Joelle turned to him with a surprised look on her face.

Then she registered what he was saying and quickly moved to the side, floating down and making it seem as though she were actually joining them for dinner, "Sorry about that. Forgot." She said apologetically.

"How are you Joelle?" Aunt Petunia asked pleasantly, passing the peas to Harry with a look of eat them.

"I'm well, how was your day?" Joelle answered equally as pleasant.

"Good, did you get everything figured out with that wandmaker?"

"Yep, just needed to discuss some of the more finer details of it." Joelle answered.

Harry ate his food quietly and methodically, still trying to wrap his head around the situation. He ended up pushing the last of his meal around on his plate as the two women made small talk.

"Harry, what would you like for dessert? I have some cheesecake left in the fridge if you want some." Aunt Petunia said. Harry looked up in surprise, he loved it, but he was still wary. The others at the table all looked at him expectantly, but Harry mutely shook his head.

"I'm full. May I be excused?" he asked, fidgeting and wanting to leave the room quickly.

"After you clear your things and take them over. Dudley will be doing the dishes tonight." Aunt Petunia said, eating the last of her dinner and setting her silverware down, "I understand this is probably very surreal for you, so tonight I will let you just head up to your room, but later I expect you to help Dudley with some basic chores. Nothing too stressful."

Harry nodded silently before taking his dishes over to the sink and then practically fleeing to his room.

"I'll go speak with him. It looked lovely." Joelle said before she floated up and through the roof.

Petunia and Dudley watched her go before Dudley turned to his mother, "I'm not sure I will ever get used to that."

Petunia gave a small sigh and began to gather dishes, "You might as well try Dudley, she plans to stay for a little bit, don't worry too much about her. She's not a malicious ghost."

"How do you know?" he challenged as he too began to clean up, "Isn't that how some ghosts get you? Pretend to be good before they turn up one night to possess you and make you kill your family?"

Petunia pursed her lips, "I just do; now come help me wash. And don't watch any more of those scary videos. They're filling your head with silly ideas."

* * *

"Harry." Joelle said, her head appearing through the floor. Harry jumped at the sight, closing his eyes for a moment before opening them again.

"Yes?" he answered, turning to his desk.

"We, well you really, are going to meditate." She said, sitting down on the floor and folding her legs beneath her, "You don't necessarily have to copy my position, but sitting does help."

Harry stared at her for a moment before moving to the floor and sitting there awkwardly.

"Good. Now, close your eyes, no peeking! Now, all we are going to do is breath for the moment. In…and out." Joelle instructed, demonstrating.

Harry followed along uncomfortably, but he couldn't concentrate on his breathing, too many thoughts were flying around in his brain for him to really concentrate on what Joelle was saying.

"Harry. If you can't concentrate on your breathing, then how do you expect to control everything else?" Joelle said with a hint of humor in her voice.

Harry opened his eyes frustrated, "Well, how do you expect me to? In the past two days, everything I have known about has been completely flipped upside down! I'm hanging out with a ghost for Merlin's sake! Sirius is dead! The only person who really cared about me is dead! Instead, I get you!" he complained, throwing his hands into the air and then running them through his hair in frustration.

Joelle looked at him with pity in her eyes and opened her mouth to say something, but Harry continued on.

"I thought I had this all figured out and I had just started getting used to Sirius and the idea that I would be living with him away from this house, but instead he's gone! He wasn't even free yet and there's no body to bury!" he finished and looked at Joelle as tears started to fill his eyes. Angrily, he dashed them away as he waited for Joelle to speak.

She sighed and then leaned back a bit, seemingly resting her back on Harry's bed, "It's hard to help when you've been dead a long time. Do I remember being alive? No, I don't. No one remembers that I was once alive, so I've never had to deal with grief or emotions dealing with death. If it helps, Sirius was at peace. He had met you and he had saved you and he was redeemed in his own eyes and hopefully yours. Of course he was upset that he wasn't able to be there your entire life, but those three years were precious to him, just like they are now precious to you." She laid a hand on Harry's shoulder, and Harry ignored the cold to concentrate on Joelle, "You're going to have to deal with this your whole life. But don't spend your days wishing for a life that will never happen. Focus on what can happen."

"How am I supposed to do that if Sirius isn't here?" Harry asked, his voice breaking as tears started to flow down his cheeks, "And now I'm crying like a little kid." He said as he wiped away some tears.

Joelle removed her hand and gave him a soft smile, "Sometimes you need to cry, otherwise you bottle it all up and it explodes out later. Sirius may not be here anymore, but you have other people in your life who want to help you. Your aunt is one of those people."

"She hates me." Harry protested weakly, but his heart wasn't in it. He had seen his aunt and knew that she was different now than what she had been when he was a child, but that was the problem, he had seen her in that terrible way the majority of his childhood. One night of politeness wasn't going to erase that damage.

"No, she doesn't. She was jealous." Joelle said softly, looking like she wanted to take his hands in hers, but held back instead, "She still cares about you, and wants to make amends. And not only do you have her, you have your other friends, Hermione and Ron right?"

Harry nodded, and drew his knees up to his chest as the tears still came, he refused to look up from the pattern in his jeans, "Yeah I guess so."

"What about your other friends? Luna and Ginny and Neville? They all came with you on what some grown-ups would call a fool-hardy mission, and they all came with you regardless of the risks. You have plenty of people watching out for you other than Sirius. Besides, you won't ever truly be alone, everyone you've lost, Sirius, Cedric, your parents, everyone, is always with you. And I'm not just saying that to say that, I know. I watched. But not in a creepy way, I promise." Joelle hurried to assure him.

Harry was silent for a moment, before wiping away the last of his tears and looking up at Joelle, "Can we do this tomorrow? And, can we go to Diagon Alley to get stuff? There's just too much going on right now to really concentrate."

Joelle gave a quick smile, "Yeah, we can do that. Will you be okay now?" she asked.

Harry nodded and Joelle patted his arm, or at least, attempted to. Harry appreciated the thought nonetheless.

As she stood up to go to wherever it is she went at night, Harry called out, "Wait!" Joelle turned back to him and tilted her head with a question in her eyes, "Thanks." Harry said softly, going back to looking at his knees.

"No problem." Joelle replied equally as soft. She stared at him sadly, allowing her thoughts to linger on the "what if's" and possibilities for a quick moment before she dismissed them and left Harry's room quickly.

Harry looked up after a moment to see Joelle had left and gave one last sniff before changing into pajamas and turning off the light.

As he lay in bed, he stared at the patch of moonlight that was creeping into his room and fell into a peaceful sleep for the first time in a few days.

* * *

**Hey all! It's been a long time since I've updated, and I feel a little guilty about it, but when writers' block hit, not much you can do except look for more ideas right? Anyhoo, this chapter is a bit shorter than the past few, but still a decent length I think. Also, I'm no expert on grief, the closest I got is my hamster dying when I was around 12. So I hope that** **Harry's grief is accurate, but also remember that everyone handles grief in different ways. Please review!**


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